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SPEED WONDER GERALDINE Porter Ashes Fleet Mare of Thirty Years Ago and Her Brilliant Record In the year 18S7 the twoyearold chestnut filly Geraldine came out of the far west an unknown to eastern patrons of t e race track She had won some races in Californ a but racing on the coast attracted little attentu n in those days So when she won her fiist rate in the East the Misses Stakes at Saratoga s c was ut 11 to 1 in the betting Los Angeles vas the favorite at 1 to 1 but Geraldine won in a canter by four lengths with Los Angeles second and Belinda third Subsequently Geraldine won the Sapphire Stakes at Sheojishead Hay and Prospect Stakes at Gravoscnd and wont back to California well known to all and decidedly respected by the owners of other twoyearolds In the Prospect Stakes jiGcraldine beat among others such celebrities as Emperor of Norfolk and Sir Dlxon She was the property of R Porter Ashc who raced his horses under the name of the Maltese Villa Stable In fact with sonic intervals intervalsilia ilia was always Ids In 18SS elie was not raced much and only won a match race against Rosarium at Monmouth Park and the Record Stakes at Bay District track San Francisco In which she defeated Al Farrow and some other swift ones onesIn In 1889 Geraldine was campaigned quite exten ¬ sively and won many races but one in which she was beaten was attended with more important consequences than all the others put together This was in a purse race at Hay District San Francisco at threequarters of a mile It was n tremendous betting race with one confident coterie backing Geraldine and another a fast filly called Emotion In the meantime a third contingent quietly sup ¬ ported an old sprinter named White Cloud and the finish of the race found him in front with Emotion second Nancy third and Geraldine unplaced unplacedSTARTS STARTS FEUD AFFECTING KACING KACINGFollowing Following came charges of pulling doublecross ¬ ing and other allegations one result being that Tom Williams and Porter Ashe hotheaded young men then were transformed from close friends into bitter enemies and a feud started that affected the Cali ¬ fornia turf for the next ten years and was attended with many unpleasant incidents Time brought healing and the two men became friends again but while the war lasted Geraldine was always a cen ¬ tral element and at one time Mr Williams took her away from Ashe through the courts and raced her for a season in his own name nameGeraldines Geraldines speed was so great that she was nearly always raced at sprinting distances but sho would probably have stayed well over a longer dis ¬ tance if trained for it At any rate in the spring of 1SS9 Al Farrow only beat her a head at a milj over the San Jose track in 140 it being one of the earliest miles in that time on record Brought East that year she won from the best of the day starring at Washington Park and the New York tracks It was this year at Morris Park that she ran a haf mile in 40 seconds which is the record to this day In this she carried 122 pounds and defeated Volunteer Daisy F Hritannic and seven more fast ones and won by two lengths In ail she raced for ten years and was known through the length and breadth of the land as one of the fastest sprintorj ever seen in America AmericaGcraldines Gcraldines long career aud its results were as follows followsGcraldinc Gcraldinc ch m 1885 by Grinstead Cousin Peggy PeggyYear Year Age Sts 1st M 3d Unp Won 1SS7 2 15 8 2 0 5 S 8510 s n 15 r S 25 13 3 3S 9 50 S 11 10 4 1 2 11 4 0 1 Totals 10 184 59 30 53 13270
